LAS INSTITUCIONES ACTOR FUNDAMENTAL EN EL ANÁLISIS DEL ESPACIO GEOGRÁFICO RURAL

En el momento histórico que vivimos, frente a los resultados del proyecto neoliberal, se discute nuevamente el rol del Estado y de sus instituciones, para alcanzar un desarrollo con equidad social en los espacios geográficos de distintas escalas; por lo que este trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar precisamente a las instituciones como uno de los actores que intervienen en la transformación del espacio geográfico y por lo tanto del espacio rural, de manera concreta en México. Así el planteamiento metodológico para la realización de este trabajo consiste en partir del paradigma de la Geografía Humana de Quaini y recurrir a la historia económica, para analizar a este actor.Los resultados están vinculados, por una parte con la valoración de la participación que este actor tuvo y puede tener, dentro de un contexto histórico social y económico concreto en el espacio rural, por otra parte con el enriquecimiento metodológico que la historia económica brinda al análisis geográfico dirigido al espacio rural, para elaborar propuestas que pretendan disminuir los desequilibrios regionales que se presentan en el mismo, con base en la democracia y la equidad social.

A personagem desconstruida : argumentos para uma arte cenica não-logocentrica

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Wet deposition of major ions in a rural area impacted by biomass burning emissions

This work concerns the influence of industrialized agriculture in the tropics on precipitation chemistry. A total of 264 rain events were sampled using a wet-only collector in central Sao Paulo State, Brazil, between January 2003 and July 2007. Electroneutrality balance calculations (considering H(+), K(+), Na(+), NH(4)(+), Ca(2)(+), Mg(2)(+), Cl(-), NO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-), F(-), PO(4)(3-), H(3)CCOO(-), HCOO(-), C(2)O(4)(2-) and HCO(3)(-)) showed that there was an excess of cations (similar to 15%), which was attributed to the presence of unmeasured organic anion species originating from biomass burning and biogenic emissions. On average, the three ions NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-) and H(+) were responsible for >55% of the total ion concentrations in the rainwater samples. Concentrations (except of H(+)) were significantly higher (t-test; P = 0.05), by between two to six-fold depending on species, during the winter sugar cane harvest period, due to the practice of pre-harvest burning of the crop. Principal component analysis showed that three components could explain 88% of the variance for measurements made throughout the year: PC1 (52%, biomass burning and soil dust resuspension); PC2 (26%, secondary aerosols); PC3 (10%, road transport emissions). Differences between harvest and non-harvest periods appeared to be mainly due to an increased relative importance of road transport/industrial emissions during the summer (non-harvest) period. The volume-weighted mean (VWM) concentrations of ammonium (23.4 mu mol L(-1)) and nitrate (17.5 mu mol L(-1)) in rainwater samples collected during the harvest period were similar to those found in rainwater from Sao Paulo city, which emphasizes the importance of including rural agro-industrial emissions in regional-scale atmospheric chemistry and transport models. Since there was evidence of a biomass burning source throughout the year, it appears that rainwater composition will continue to be affected by vegetation fires, even after sugar cane burning is phased out as envisaged by recent Sao Paulo State legislation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Migration in Afro-Brazilian Rural Communities: Crossing Demographic and Genetic Data

Many studies have used genetic markers to understand global migration patterns of our species. However, there are only few studies of human migration on a local scale. We, therefore, researched migration dynamics in three Afro-Brazilian rural communities, using demographic data and ten Ancestry Informative Markers. In addition to the description of migration and marriage structures, we carried out genetic comparisons between the three populations, as well as between locals and migrants from each community. Genetic admixture analyses were conducted according to the gene-identity method, with Sub-Saharan Africans, Amerindians, and Europeans as parental populations. The three analyzed Afro-Brazilian rural communities consisted of 16% to 30% of migrants, most of them women. The age pyramid revealed a gap in the segment of men aged between 20 to 30 yrs. While endogamous marriages predominated, exogamous marriages were mainly patrilocal. Migration dynamics are apparently associated with matrimonial customs and other social practices of such communities. The impact of migration upon the populations` genetic composition was low but showed an increase in European alleles with a concomitant decrease in the Amerindian contribution. Admixture analysis evidenced a higher African contribution to the gene pool of the studied populations, followed by the contribution of Europeans and Amerindians, respectively.

Divididos: um espectáculo de teatro na paisagem das Comédias do Minho: de corpo na terra, perto do céu: relatório de estágio

requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Teatro - especialização em Artes Performativas /Teatro-Música.

Ecology of phlebotomines (Diptera, Psychodidae) in rural foci of leishmaniasis in tropical Brazil

INTRODUCTION: This work aimed to study the community structure of sandflies, with regard to the richness, constancy, abundance, and monthly frequency of the species with a focus on the transmission of leishmaniasis. METHODS: The study was conducted in the rural villages of Bom Jardim and Santa Maria, situated on the edge of a tropical rain forest in the municipality of São Jose de Ribamar, Maranhão, Brazil. The phlebotomines were captured in the intradomiciles and peridomiciles of each village, with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps set in 10 homes in each village, for 1 year, once a month, from 18h to 6h. RESULTS: We collected 1,378 individuals of 16 sandfly species. The capture success rate was higher in Bom Jardim (0.61 specimens/hour/trap) than that of Santa Maria (0.35/specimens/hour/trap). The sandflies were more abundant in the peridomiciles (86.1%) and in the rainy season (77%). Five species were considered constants (occurring in more than 50% of samples), 5 accessory (25%-50%), and 6 accidental (<25%). The most abundant species were Lutzomyia longipalpis (59.7%) and L whitmani (28%). The permutation analysis showed differences between the species composition of the villages and no separation between the intradomicile and peridomicile of each village. The species that most contributed to the dissimilarity between the light traps of the 2 villages were L. longipalpis, L. whitmani, and L. evandroi, contributing to 80.8% of the variation among groups. CONCLUSIONS: The high level of richness and abundance of species and the presence of competent vectors throughout the year and around houses justify the occurrence of leishmaniasis cases reported in the area.

High fat versus high carbohydrate nutritional supplementation: a one year trial in stunted rural Gambian children.

OBJECTIVE: The study tests the hypothesis that a low daily fat intake may induce a negative fat balance and impair catch-up growth in stunted children between 3 and 9y of age. DESIGN: Randomized case-control study. SETTING: Three rural villages of the West Kiang District, The Gambia. SUBJECTS: Three groups of 30 stunted but not wasted children (height for age z-score < or = -2.0, weight for height z-score > or = -2.0) 3-9 y of age were selected by anthropometric survey. Groups were matched for age, sex, village, degree of stunting and season. INTERVENTION: Two groups were randomly assigned to be supplemented five days a week for one year with either a high fat (n = 29) or a high carbohydrate biscuit (n = 30) each containing approximately 1600 kJ. The third group was a non supplemented control group (n = 29). Growth, nutritional status, dietary intake, resting energy expenditure and morbidity were compared. RESULTS: Neither the high fat nor the high carbohydrate supplement had an effect on weight or height gain. The high fat supplement did slightly increase adipose tissue mass. There was no effect of supplementation on resting energy expenditure or morbidity. In addition, the annual growth rate was not associated with a morbidity score. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that neither a high fat nor a high carbohydrate supplement given during 12 months to stunted Gambian children induced catch-up growth. The authors suggest that an adverse effect of the environment on catch-up growth persists despite the nutritional interventions.

Lack of metabolic and behavioral adaptations in rural Gambian men with low body mass index.

Energy expenditure was measured by means of a respiratory chamber in two groups of adult rural Gambian men. The first group (n = 29) had a low body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) < 18.5), whereas the control group (n = 29) had a higher BMI (> 22). This study shows that the energy expenditure of Gambian men with low BMI is not different from that of Gambian men with normal BMI when the results are normalized for fat-free mass or for weight by analysis of covariance. In Gambian men the nutritional status thus does not seem to affect energy metabolism notably. No differences in respiratory quotient, diet-induced thermogenesis, net work efficiency, spontaneous physical activity, heart rate, or urinary catecholamine excretion were observed between the two groups. It is, however, interesting to note that the basal metabolic rate of Gambian men, regardless of their nutritional status, is approximately 10% (range 4-12% depending on the reference value used) lower than that predicted for individuals living in industrialized countries.

Deciding where to belong: gender differences in educational trajectories and migration in a rural Spanish town

From an anthropological perspective, formal post-secondary schooling is not an abstractentity with an intrinsic value that everyone finds desirable, but rather one alternative among many that young people evaluate from their different positions in the social field. The problem discussed in this paper is the diverging life trajectories that young men and women in a concrete rural context, at the end of the 20th century, shape for themselves at the ages of 14-16, a moment of decision created by national legislation regarding mandatory education (LGE, 1970, General Education Law, and LOGSE, 1990, General Organic Law of the Education System). Despite a strong cultural norm of equal inheritance divided among all children, male and female, and despite the equal educational opportunities provided by the Spanish State, different meanings of possession and use-rights over land and the resulting culturally accepted gendered division of work converge to orient men and women differently towards post-secondary schooling. Observation of the age, gender, and civil status structure of the population led to the preliminary query: Why do men and women, in this town, behave differently with respect to migration and marriage? The main hypothesis was that women’s longer school trajectories and resulting migration and men’s anchoring in the town and their higher rates of celibacy were not drastic changes in values, in the positional-relational sense of Bourdieu (1988, 2002), but the current outcome of previously existing dissimilar relations to property that produce dissimilar mobility. Through their schooling and work choices, young men and women, at very early ages, locate themselves in, or decide to belong to, different contexts that later reveal very different possibilities of finding marriage partners. This paper is based on an ethnographic study of a small rural town (302 inhabitants in 1950; 193 in 2000) near Leon. Although this paper deals with the situation in the final decades of the 20th century, we must also consider the first half of the century, where some elements that shape this situation have their roots. Fieldwork was carried out between 1988 and 2001, in periods of differing length and intensity. The social subjects discussed here are the domestic unit and its component members. They were studied in conjunction, analyzing the life-trajectory decisions of specific persons in the framework of the domestic unit and the relations among people and property which comprise it. The tried-and-true methods of ethnographic research –participant observation, interviews, and life-histories, etc.- were employed. Archival research was also important for producing demographic data. Demographic analysis, the analysis of the composition and transformation of domestic units, and the creation of life trajectories were among the principal techniques used. The theoretical analysis was oriented by Bourdieu’s (2002) framework of the social field, habitus, and difference.

Free-living energy expenditure assessed by two different methods in rural Gambian men.

OBJECTIVE: To assess total free-living energy expenditure (EE) in Gambian farmers with two independent methods, and to determine the most realistic free-living EE and physical activity in order to establish energy requirements for rural populations in developing countries. DESIGN: In this cross-sectional study two methods were applied at the same time. SETTING: Three rural villages and Dunn Nutrition Centre Keneba, MRC, The Gambia. SUBJECTS: Eight healthy, male subjects were recruited from three rural Gambian villages in the sub-Sahelian area (age: 25 +/- 4y; weight: 61.2 +/- 10.1 kg; height: 169.5 +/- 6.5 cm, body mass index: 21.2 +/- 2.5 kg/m2). INTERVENTION: We assessed free-living EE with two inconspicuous and independent methods: the first one used doubly labeled water (DLW) (2H2 18O) over a period of 12 days, whereas the second one was based on continuous heart rate (HR) measurements on two to three days using individual regression lines (HR vs EE) established by indirect calorimetry in a respiration chamber. Isotopic dilution of deuterium (2H2O) was also used to assess total body water and hence fat-free mass (FFM). RESULTS: EE assessed by DLW was found to be 3880 +/- 994 kcal/day (16.2 +/- 4.2 MJ/day). Expressed per unit body weight the EE averaged 64.2 +/- 9.3 kcal/kg/d (269 +/- 38 kJ/kg/d). These results were consistent with the EE results assessed by HR: 3847 +/- 605 kcal/d (16.1 +/- 2.5 MJ/d) or 63.4 +/- 8.2 kcal/kg/d (265 +/- 34kJ/kg/d). Physical activity index, expressed as a multiple of basal metabolic rate (BMR), averaged 2.40 +/- 0.41 (DLW) or 2.40 +/- 0.28 (HR). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest an extremely high level of physical activity in Gambian men during intense agricultural work (wet season). This contrasts with the relative food shortage, previously reported during the harvesting period. We conclude that the assessment of EE during the agricultural season in non-industrialized countries needs further investigations in order to obtain information on the energy requirement of these populations. For this purpose the use of the DLW and HR methods have been shown to be useful and complementary.

Das römische Theater von Avenches/Aventicum : Architektur, Baugeschichte, kulturhistorische Aspekte

Résumée Le théâtre romain d'Aventicum s'inscrit entre la petite ville moderne d'Avenches et le village de Donatyre, au pied d'une colline en pente douce délimitant au sud-est la plaine de la Broye. Il se situe à l'ouest des quartiers urbains antiques, construits selon un plan orthogonal, et s'intègre à une zone comptant divers temples et édifices publics. Dès l'hiver 1889/1890, l'Association Pro Aventico nouvellement fondée lança les premières fouilles archéologiques. Jusqu'en 1914, on dégagea les parties originales de la maçonnerie tout en assurant la restauration de l'édifice. En 1926/1927 et de 1939 à 1942 auront lieu d'autres fouilles de grande envergure, accompagnées de mesures de conservation. En 2001, la Fondation Pro Aventico lança un projet visant à étudier l'histoire de la construction ainsi que l'architecture du monument, alors connues en partie seulement. Sur la base de vestiges attestant la présence d'édifices antérieurs au théâtre, on définira pour la construction de ce dernier un terminus post quem entre 100 et 120 ap. J.-C. Comme l'indique l'étude du plan au sol, ce projet nécessita une importante planification. L'édifice lui-même se constitue d'une zone en demi-cercle réservée au public, dont les substructions indiquent qu'elle était partiellement isolée des autres. La cavea, subdivisée en trois secteurs concentriques, se termine par le bâtiment des halles et par les aditus; on relèvera que les rangées supérieures réservées aux spectateurs s'étendaient sans doute au-delà des halles et jusqu'à la façade. Les aditus permettaient d'accéder à la zone de l'orchestra et de la scène, dominée par une plate-forme de plan rectangulaire et bordée d'une proédrie. On disposait de deux voies d'accès différentes: l'une à l'avant, par les arcades des halles, et l'une à l'arrière, pratiquée dans le mur en demi-cercle; apparemment, on ne pouvait pénétrer que dans la partie centrale de ce dernier. On ne parvient à restituer que partiellement les voies de circulation dans les substructions de la cavea, en raison de leur piètre état de conservation. On a par contre pu repérer le deambulatorium, à la périphérie, ainsi que cinq vomitoria sur la première praecinctio et six vomitoria sur la seconde praecinctio. On peut admettre, sans toutefois disposer d'arguments à toute épreuve, que la troisième rangée, en haut, était accessible par des cages d'escaliers conduisant à la summa cavea. Ces hypothèses, fondées essentiellement sur le plan au sol de l'édifice et touchant aux voies de circulation, sont corroborées par une restitution des gradins des parties en élévation, aujourd'hui disparus. Quelques éléments architecturaux fournissent des arguments décisifs pour cette restitution, comme par exemple un bloc de gradin qui permet de conclure à un pendage de la cavea de 26.5°. On peut par ailleurs démontrer que le module architectural défini sur la base du plan au sol fut également appliqué lors de la planification de l'élévation. Grâce à des fragments de corniche, à deux chapiteaux de pilastre ornés de feuilles d'acanthe, à une base de pilastre engagée in situ dans la maçonnerie restaurée, et en tenant compte du module architectural, on peut proposer une reconstitution approximative de la composition de la façade de l'enceinte en demi-cercle. Si les structures architecturales révèlent que le théâtre fut planifié et édifié selon un seul et unique concept, on observe cependant quelques transformations et modifications au cours du temps. D'une part, on décèle en divers endroits des traces de réparation et de consolidation, visant sans doute à stabiliser un bâtiment ayant visiblement subi des dégâts. Par ailleurs, on a également entrepris des modifications structurelles ou fonctionnelles, comme l'édification ultérieure du postscaenium le long du mur de scène extérieur. Dans un contexte identique, on relèvera également deux murs flanquant les basiliques, qu'on suppose être en relation avec l'agrandissement du complexe architectural du temple du Cigognier et du théâtre, augmenté des deux temples édifiés au milieu du 2e s. ap. J.-C. au lieu-dit Au Lavoëx. L'excavation, au cours du dernier tiers du IIIe siècle ap. J.-C., d'un fossé de près de 6 m de large pour 1.5 m de profondeur tout autour de l'édifice fit du théâtre un véritable lieu fortifié. Au-dessus du fossé, on a pu relever une séquence stratigraphique témoignant d'une activité d'habitation à proximité du théâtre pour la période allant du IVe au VIIe siècle ap. J.-C. Il s'agit de l'un des rares cas où l'on peut, à Avenches, évoquer la présence d'un habitat de la période du Haut Moyen Age.

Groundwater quality comparison between rural farms and riparian wells in the western Amazon, Brazil

Groundwater quality of a riparian forest is compared to wells in surrounding rural areas at Urupá River basin. Groundwater types were calcium bicarbonated at left margin and sodium chloride at right, whereas riparian wells exhibited a combination of both (sodium bicarbonate). Groundwater was mostly solute-depleted with concentrations within permissible limits for human consumption, except for nitrate. Isotopic composition suggests that inorganic carbon in Urupá River is mostly supplied by runoff instead of riparian groundwater. Hence, large pasture areas in addition to narrow riparian forest width in this watershed may have an important contribution in the chemical composition of this river.

Rural Food System Change in Tanzania during the Post-Ujamaa Era. A Case Study from Western Bagamoyo District

Food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa have been rapidly transforming during the recent decades with diverse outcomes on human development and environment. This study explores the food system change in rural villages in eastern Tanzania where subsistence agriculture has traditionally been the main source of livelihood. The focus is on the salient changes in the spatial dimensions and structural composition of the food system in the context of economic liberalization that has taken place after the end of the socialist ujamaa era in the mid-1980s. In addition, the linkages of the changes are examined in relation to food security, socio-economic situation, livelihoods, and local environment. The approach of the study is geographical, but also involves various multi-disciplinary elements, particularly from development studies. The research methods included thematic and questionnaire interviews, participatory tools, and the analysis of land use/ cover data and official documents. Several earlier studies that were made in the area during the late 1970s and 1980s provided an important reference base. The study shows that subsistence farming has lost its dominant role in food provisioning due to the declining productivity of land, livestock losses, and the increasing shift of labour to non-farm sectors. Also rapid population growth has added to the pressure on land and other natural resources. Despite the increasing need for money for buying marketed foods and other necessities, the nutritional situation shows improvement and severe malnutrition has diminished. However, the long-term sustainability of this transformation raises concerns. Firstly, the food security situation continues to be fragile and prone to shocks such as adverse climatic conditions, crop failures and price hikes. Secondly, the commodification of the food system and livelihoods in general is linked to rapid environmental degradation in the area, particularly the loss of soil fertility and deforestation. The situation calls for efforts that take more determined and holistic approaches towards sustainable development of the rural food system with particular focus on the role and viability of small-scale farming.

Effects of dietary lipid source on growth, digestibility and tissue fatty acid composition of Heterobranchus longifilis fingerlings

One of the major problems facing aquaculture is the inadequate supply of fish oil mostly used for fish feed manufacturing. The continued growth in aquaculture production cannot depend on this finite feed resources, therefore, it is imperative that cheap and readily available substitutes that do not compromise fish growth and fillet quality be found. To achieve this, a 12-week feeding trial with Heterobranchus longifilis fed diets differing in lipid source was conducted. Diets were supplemented with 6% lipid as fish oil, soybean oil, palm oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil and melon seed oil. Triplicate groups of 20 H. longifilis were fed the experimental diets two times a day to apparent satiation, over 84 days. Growth, digestibility, and muscle fatty acid profile were measured to assess diet effects. At the end of the study, survival, feed intake and hepatosomatic index were similar for fish fed experimental diets. However, weight gain, SGR and FCR of fish fed soybean oil-based diet was significantly reduced. Apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients were significantly lower in fish fed soybean, coconut and groundnut oil-based diets. Fillet and hepatic fatty acid compositions differed and reflected the fatty acid compositions of the diets. Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3), 20:5n-3 and 20:4n-6 were conserved in vegetable oils-based diets fed fish possibly due to synthesis of HUFA from 18:3n-3 and 18:4n-6. Palm oil diet was the least expensive, and had the best economic conversion ratio. The use of vegetable oils in the diets had positive effect on growth and fillet composition of H. longifilis.

Varying the dietary supply of C and N to manipulate the manure composition of water buffalo heifers in Oman

Optimizing the composition of manure has the potential to reduce nutrient losses to the environment and to increase crop yields. In this study the effect of dietary ratios of carbon (C) to nitrogen (N) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) to soluble carbohydrates (SC) on faeces composition of water buffalo heifers was assessed. Two digestibility trials were conducted with 12 animals each, fed one control and four test diets composed to achieve (1) high C/N and high NDF/SC ratios (HH), (2) low C/N and low NDF/SC ratios (LL), (3) high C/N and low NDF/SC ratios (HL) and (4) low C/N and high NDF/SC (LH) ratios. Faecal C/N ratios were generally lower than dietary C/N ratios, but the reduction was especially large for high C/N ratio diets (HH=55 %, HL=51 %). Faecal N concentration was positively correlated (r^2 = 0.6; P < 0.001) with N intake, but the increase in faecal N was more pronounced for diets that supplied low amounts of N. Faecal NDF concentration was positively related to NDF intake (r^2 = 0.42; P < 0.001), as well as the faecal C/N ratio (r^2 = 0.3; P < 0.001). Results demonstrate that C/N ratio and NDF concentration of buffalo manure were affected by diet composition. Diets with high C/N ratio and low NDF/SC ratio are preferable with regard to manure quality, but may not satisfy the nutritional requirements of producing animals, since N concentration in these diets was low and fibre concentration simultaneously high.